Manufacture of worsted roving



O'lf- 29, 1946. R. J. DE LAu'rHAuwEl-a 2,410,020

MANUFACTURE OF WORSTED ROVING Filed March 15, 1944 ENTO Page Jofel@ 15 afg/w51: R'

BY MM,

ATTORNEY. l

Patented Oct. 29, 1946 :UNITED STATES Plrrizlvrv omer:

2,410,020 f l VMA1vUFAC'rURE 0F WoRsTED RovING l Rene J. deLathauwer, Hawthorne, N. J, l Application March 15, 1944, serial No. 526,580N

2 claims. (ci. 19-130) In the treatment of wool fibers to produce a usliver in condition for spinning into worsted yarn the fibers aremade subject to drawings in a succession of drawing machines, usually seven or more. In the first several machines, as the rst three or four, a gill-bed, and in the remaining machines, a porcupine roll, is employed between the feed or retaining .rolls and the delivery or drawing rolls, each such expedient being active, while made toadvance at a speed between those of the corresponding Vfeed and delivery rolls, to effect what I herein term a slip-draft combing, or to hold back those fibers that are not actually y nipped by the delivery rolls and that would otherwise, as an incident merely of friction existing between them and the bers actually so nipped, be advanced by and with the latter bers, thus to defeat the purpose of the drawing operation or `the eiecting of as uniform lengthwise dispersion of all the fibers as possible. Incidentally, as is well known to workers in this art, the sliver can withstand andrequiresI a more strenuous slip- ,draft combing in the early part of the whole treatment than in the later part thereof where it approaches or actually attains a quite frail condition, wherefore well known expedients are used, that is, gill-beds, with their closely related and numerous pins or gills, are used in the early part `,of the whole treatment and porcupine rolls, with ,more widely spaced and less numerous pins or quills,` are used in the later part; and these two expedie'nts diier in other respects affecting the disposition of their pins. In respect to any one `of the several drawings the conditions are as follows: At least two separately formed slivers, each a more r less initially cross-sectionally round or other Vthan flat strand, doubled (that is, lying side by side and in close contact with each other), pass between the feed rolls being meanwhile subjected to the slip-draft combing action of the gill-bed or the vporcupine roll, as the case may be, whereby they come to exist blended and merged into what is a unit or single sliver considerably greater in length than either, and of `less weight per unit of length than the combined weight, of its component slivers, fhaving become more or less'flattened in the process. Following each gill-drawing operation such s liver is next subjected to a false-twisting operation eiectedby a back-and-forth rotated funnel, and following each porcupine-roll drawing operation the sliver is next subjected to a rolling operation effected by a pair of endless aprons which are advanced with the sliver and also reuciprocated transversely thereof and oppositely and the delivery rolls, Y

condensing and Vduring the bled sliver it will also be packaged. Whetheiuor ,not the `rst-named slivers Y(to wit, in which each of the to each other, thus developing the` sliver to more or less cross-sectionally round and condensed state. Following the condensing the sliver, or what as it now exists is known as a roving in this particular art, is formed into a wound mass, ason a suitably rotated roll or core, and thus "bal1ed in preparation to undergo again these steps in the next succeeding drawing operation or, the last drawing being completed, to pass to the spinning operation.

The objectof the present invention is to produce a sliver product, or roving, in condition ,for spinning into worsted yarn .which shall be substantially as completely and evenly or uniformly drafted'as by the conventional procedure but to do so in a way to reduce the equipment necessary and obtain a considerable saving in power, time and labor.` o

To this end, instead of passing the material through the` seven or more stages indicated in order finally to produce a roving suitable for spinning into worsted yarn, I proceed as follows: Each of at least two slivers is subjected, while being continuously advanced, rst to simultaneous drawing and slip-draft combing and thereafter to drawing and slip-draft combing of which vthe former combing is more strenuous than the latter and meanwhile the intake speed of the second drawing is preserved substantially equal to the output speed of the rst drawing, whereupon the thus-treated sliver is condensed and packaged; thereupon the thus-treated slivers are combined to form a doubled sliver and such doubled sliver is subjected to the same treatment as each sliver has undergone inclusive of at least the condensing thereof, thus to produce a roving in condition, at

`least as to draft and condensation, to pass to the spinning operation, though usually following such advance of the douare simultaneously treated is of course immaterial. Further, each of such rst-named slivers will in practice usually, itself, comprise two or more sliver-components, as I herein term them. Preferably in each stage first-named slivers is treated, and in which the doubled sliver is treated) blending of the bers by transversely compacting them is eifected. By following this procedure thenurnber of drawings is reduced to four each, instead of seven ormore, and the condensings and packagings or ballings are reduced "to two each. insteadof sevenor more, with a consequent considerable economy in equipment, 1a-

,bor, V'time and power.`

feed rolls and the delivery rolls is any usual type y of gill-bed 3 used in wool drawing. Each of the rolls Ia and 2a--2b is the positively driven roll of its group, roll I being driven from roll Ia andv roll 2 from roll 2a-2b by traction.

Aft of the delivery rolls are fixed chutes or tunnels :c each of which narrows and so compacts the ber mass presented to it transversely, they discharging close to the nips of the feed rolls next to`be referred t0.

At 4-4a are the feed rolls and at E--Sa-Eb are the delivery rolls for the second drawing operation of the first stage. So asv tc exert pressure on the slivers rolld rests on roll 4a and roll 5" on the pair of rolls 5a 5b. Between these feed rollsI and delivery rolls is the pair of rolls 6-6a,

roll 6 resting on roll 6a so as to exert pressure on the slivers but being as usual in offset relation 'thereto in the direction of advance of the sliver.

Between rolls I--Ba and the delivery rolls is the porcupine roll 1. Rolls 4a, 5a and 5b, roll 6a and the porcupine roll 1 arev positively driven, rolls 4, 5' and 6 being driven by traction from the rolls onA which they respectively rest.

Aft of delivery rolls 5-5a-5b are fixed chutes or funnels y which narrow the sliver transversely, discharging lclose to condensing means thus:

'IheV condensing means consists of a lower pairof: rolls 8, embraced by an endless apron 9, and three upperv rolls I0, embraced by an endless apron I I, the lower apron having its upper stretch lhorizontal and the upper rolls being of such relative diameters and so arranged that the upper apron coacts with the lower apron to roll and thus condense the slivers passed between them when the aprons are subjected to reciprocation transversely of the slivers and reversely toeach other in the well known manner.

To thev right or aft of the condensing means is the balling means comprising a lower roll I2 and a roll I3 resting thereon and on which the winding orA balling is effected.` Roll I2 is positively driven. fRoilsv Ia, 2a, 2b, 4a, 6a, 1, 5a, 8 and I2-are all driven in the same direction, or here so that the slivers. are advanced to the right.

Roll 2a is driven at a faster speed than roll In so as to effect the first drawing, and rolls .5a- 5b are driven at a faster speed than roll 4a se as to effect the second drawing. And of course rolls 8 and I2 are driven at at least a speed not less than that imparted to the slivers as delivered by' thesecond drawing means, thus to perform theirintended functions of condensing and balling.

But feed roll 4a of the second drawing means is driven yat the same peripheral speed as the delivery rolls 2a-2b of the first drawing means.

In Fig. 2 four pairs of sliver-components, as a-a in each pair, are shown by way of example. Those of each pair exist side by side and in contact with each other, as usual, on entering the first drawing means and in that sense doubled;

4 in any event each of the four masses of fibers here shown exists as what I shall hereinafter, in this description and in the appended claims, term a sliven Such sliver, attenuated by the gills and thereupon reduced in width by funnel .'v, and with its fibers more or less blended, is delivered by the delivery rolls 2--2a-2b to the feed rolls 4-4a of the second drawing means, to wit, in neutral state in transit from rolls 2-2a--2b to rolls 4-4a insofar as draft or lack of draft is concerned because the rolls 2-2a-2b and A-lia rotate at the same peripheral speed. The sliver, here by the porcupine roll attenuated,

and again reduced in width by funnel y, and

with its fibers still more blended, is then subjected to the rolling and hence condensing action of the aprons and nally is balled at I2-l3, for

this latter purpose being delivered, as usual, via a spout I4 to the balling means with a neighboring roving that has been produced in the same way as itself. y This completes the first stage as it will preferably be practiced in performance of my invention. To complete the treatment to produce a roving in the state required for spinning the product, or thus treated sliver, of the first stage is made to undergo again the same operations as in said rst stage, that is to say, when combined with a sliver that has been treated in the same way and so as to form therewith what I `term in the appended claims a doubled sliver.

Of course, according to my treatment, aswell as in the case of the conventional treatment hereinbefore set forth, the more strenuous prirnary slip-draft combing action, as by the gills, is necessary andpossible because of the greater stability and cruder character of the slivers, and the less strenuous secondary slip-draft combing action, as by the porcupine roll, is necessary and possible because of the then reduced stability and more refined character of the slivers. But my invention involves` providing for two successive drawing operations respectively accompaniedV by slip-draft combings of which the one appertaln'- ing to the first drawing is more strenuous than that appertaining to the second drawing and in further rotating the feed rolls for the second such operation at the same peripheral speed as that I of the delivery rolls of the first, or,` inother` words, entering the slivers to the second drawing at an input speed which is equal to the output speed of the first drawing. If. that is done,` thus aIording one stage in the whole treatment,- and such is then repeated, thus to afford the second stage, there need be only four drawings, with their four slip-draftcombings, two condensings and two ballings, and, as practice has shown, the resulting product is as goed in quality as that produced by the conventional procedure.

The condensing and packaging are herein shown and described as effected after .the manner of what` is known` as the French method of treating, wool fibers in preparation for spinning; but it is to be understood that my invention is not correspondingly limited, inasmuch as those steps could obviously be performed in accordance with what is known as the Bradford method oftreating wool bers in preparation for spinning, to wit, by resort to fliers and bobbins by, which the slivers would be more or less twisted and in that state. wound on bobbins or spools.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is: v Y l. The method `of drawingA wool bers.- to pro.- duce a roving in condition for spinning into worsted yarn which consists in subjecting each of at least two slivers comprising such fibers, and while continuously advancing such sliver, first to simultaneous drawing and slip-draft combing such as by gilling and thereafter to simultaneous drawing and slip-draft combing such as by the use of porcupine rolls of which the former combing is more strenuous than the latter and meanwhile maintaining the intake speed of the second drawing substantially equal to the output speed of the first drawing, thereupon condensing and packaging the thus-treated sliver, and thereafter Combining said thus-treated slivers to form a doubled sliver and subjecting such doubled sliver, while continuously advancing the same, first to simultaneous drawing and slipdraft combing and thereafter to simultaneous drawing and slip-draft combing of which the former combing is more strenuous than the latter and meanwhile maintaining the input speed of the second drawing substantially equal to the output speed of the first drawing of such doubled sliver, and nally condensing the thus-treated doubled sliver.'

2. The method set forth in claim 1 characterized by coinpacting transversely the iibers of the first-named sliver between the two first-named drawings and slip-draft combings and also between tne latter drawing and slip-draft combing and condensing of such sliver, and compacting transversely the bers of said doubled sliver between the two drawings and slip-draft combings hereof and also between the latter drawing and slip-draft combing and condensing of such doubled sliver.

RENE J. DE LATHAUWER. 

